Humphrey Fellowship Eligible Countries: The Official List of 148
Citizenship decides where you apply and whether you can apply at all. This is the list on humphreyfellowship.org as checked on 6 October 2026, grouped by region.
ScholarshipUnion Editorial
3 min read
Updated Oct 6, 2026
The programme publishes its country list on the U.S. Embassies & Commissions page. On 6 October 2026 the filter returned 148 countries. Each entry links to the office that runs the competition — and that office, not IIE, sets your deadline.
In 28 countries a binational Fulbright Commission runs the Humphrey competition, the official page says. Everywhere else it is the Public Affairs (or Public Diplomacy) Section of the U.S. Embassy. If your country is missing from the list, there is no route in for that cycle.
The list by region
Grouped by the State Department’s regions. Two entries are filed oddly on the official page (Cyprus sits under Western Hemisphere and The Bahamas under East Asia and Pacific); we have moved them to their natural regions. The total is unchanged.
Sub-Saharan Africa (45)
Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Western Hemisphere (33)
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Europe and Eurasia (23)
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Türkiye, Ukraine.
East Asia and Pacific (21)
Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Kiribati, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Vietnam.
Middle East and North Africa (14)
Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Territories (West Bank and Gaza), Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.
South and Central Asia (12)
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
Countries with a Fulbright Commission
The official list links these countries to a commission or foundation rather than to the embassy: Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Slovak Republic, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Türkiye and Uruguay. That is 27 names, against the “28 countries” in the page text — ask locally if you are unsure which office handles your country.
Commissions often run their own process on top of the IIE form. India’s USIEF wants an employer endorsement form showing leave will be granted. Pakistan’s USEFP uses four rounds, with in-person interviews in Islamabad.
Who is not on the list
The list skews toward low- and middle-income countries and U.S. partner states. Western Europe, North America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are absent. Among countries applicants often ask about, Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, Syria, Libya and Sudan were also not on the list when we checked. Lists can change from cycle to cycle, and the State Department’s FY 2027 funding notice says final country eligibility is coordinated with its regional bureaus.
Citizenship and residence
You apply through the country whose passport you hold, or are eligible to hold. Several 2027–28 calls went further and required you to live and work there — Ghana asked for citizens “currently residing in Ghana”, Guinea for applicants who “reside and be professionally active in Guinea”, and Maldives for nationals “currently residing in Maldives”. If you live abroad, contact your home-country office before you start.
Holding U.S. citizenship or a green card as well rules you out in every country, because you cannot then take the J-1 visa. See Eligibility for the full rules.